Screenplay: Crown of Iron
by Jack Bullions
Summary: Unfinished. Content DV. Gandalf never defeats Durin's Bane at Zirakzigil. Gimli, accompanied by Legolas, returns to Moria with help in order to destroy the Balrog, and pave the way for Durin VII to reclaim the lost city centuries later.



    CROWN OF IRON
    by
    Jack Bullions
    ROUGH DRAFT
    FADE IN:
    White titles appear against the black screen.
    "The world is grey, the mountains old,
    The forge's fire is ashen-cold;
    No harp is wrung, no hammer falls:
    The darkness dwells in Durin's halls;
    The shadow lies upon his tomb
    In Moria, in Khazad-dûm.
    But still the sunken stars appear
    In dark and windless Mirrormere;
    There lies his crown in water deep,
    Till Durin wakes again from sleep."
    - Legend of Moria
    The letters fade, like wisps of smoke, into darkness. We
    suddenly HEAR a soft chorus of deep-throated voices...
    strong Dwarven music accompanied with distant booms of a
    drum... the effect is serene, yet full of brawn when suddenly
    we...
    SMASH CUT TO:
    INT. MITHRIL MINE - TIMELESS
    A pick-axe SLAMS into solid rock, breaking off a chunk.
    The dwarf lowers his axe and wipes sweat from his brow,
    smearing soot in the process.
    Muscled arms, olive complexion, a stout body, proud face
    partially covered by his thick golden beard. His eyes are
    intense, eager for the minerals and metals hidden in the
    quarry. Dwarven names are never shared so for now, we will
    refer to this dwarf as BRONIN.
    Bronin hefts his axe again and gets back to work.
    SUPERIMPOSE: KHAZAD-DUM, YEAR III 1980
    Behind him and up the shaft, more DWARVES like Bronin work
    the metal mine -- muscles with sweat, bags of rock slung over
    broad shoulders, moving carts of dirt, iron ore, all working
    in unision. The area is claustrophobic, and dark but they
    don't seem to mind. The veins of the mine are the veins in
    their bodies. These guys are the complete opposite of what
    Disney saw with his Seven Dwarves.
    A group of DWARF ENGINEERS go over charts on an oak table, a
    continuously-changing representation of the mines as they
    chart new tunnels and shafts. Another group studies and
    analyzes the iron ore from passing carts.
    We follow the shaft of the mine up to an immense space deep
    in the bowels of the mining operation.
    Vaguely circular, the room is carved out of the very rock
    of the mountain Zirakzigil with giant stairwells and ramps
    that spiral up and up to incomprehensible heights.
    In the center, there's an enormous pit.
    Flames are visible over beveled edges descending to the
    depths. On one wall, a complex series of twin-ducts, gears,
    large bellows, and fans made of PALM FRONDS flow oxygen from
    the mountain cliffs into the furnace area.
    INT. LOWER MINE SHAFT
    A DWARF MINER breaks through a wall, exposes a vein of
    glimmering mithril. He lowers his axe, draws closer.
    DWARF MINER
    (in awe)
    Mithril.
    The word echoes from other dwarves, and they swarm to the
    discovery.
    BACK ON BRONIN
    Another Miner nudges him with an elbow, prompting him to
    stop. Bronin looks back, sees the commotion, hearing the
    word 'Mithril' repeated over and over. He follows the group
    out.
    INT. BLAST FURNACE (CONTINUOUS)
    Bronin and the group make their way across the ledge. Their
    figures backlit by intense heat from the FLAMES of the
    furnace.
    INT. LOWER MINE SHAFT
    DURIN VI, the Lord of Khazad-Dûm, powerful regal features,
    beard braided in gold and silver rings covering a barreled
    chest, sees the new group approach. Resting on his shoulder
    is his axe, and gripped in his other hand a tiny CANARY.
    Miners use these little birds to test quality of air inside
    tunnels.
    DURIN
    A new vein was discovered. A joyous
    occassion. Come join the throng!
    BRONIN
    How far deep does this vein run?
    DURIN
    Quite deep. Look at his work. His axe
    sheared more rock than a fist of Aule
    and yet we see but a small portion of
    the prize.
    The dwarves nod in agreement.
    DURIN
    Deeper! Onwards, I say! We've struck
    the motherlode!
    Footsteps. Durin turns just as a red-bearded DWARF MINER
    appears from the tunnel heading away from the furnace. His
    face doesn't share the same enthusiasm.
    DWARF MINER
    Hold fast, fellows. There is something
    else to see. The walls down here are
    lined with mithril, yes... enough
    mithril to fill Kheled-zâram but...
    (beat)
    ... there is something else down here.
    Follow me.
    CUT TO:
    INT. TUNNEL - DEAD END
    The Dwarf Miner leads Durin and the group lower into the
    depths of the mountain. At the end of the tunnel is a
    FISSURE, just wide enough for a dwarf to squeeze through.
    DWARF MINER
    We came upon this. Look there.
    Bronin looks through. Perpetual darkness on the other side.
    His eyes narrow and we start to see through his --
    BRONIN'S POV: Dwarven night-vision. The tunnel around almost
    as bright as day, lurid white, and smooth gray. Beyond it is
    the remains of a TEMPLE DOORWAY, ancient, incalculable age,
    and in the state of heavy decay. Debris and crumbled brick
    are everywhere.
    Bronin is struck by the sight. He looks back at Durin.
    BRONIN
    What is that?
    No answer. Durin leaves the group, climbs through the
    fissure...
    INT. TEMPLE ENTRANCE (CONTINUOUS)
    ... and instantly wrinkles his nose.
    DURIN
    Fire... a strong one.
    The Miners fan out. They nervously examine the walls,
    studying the strange HIEROGLYPHICS (RUNES) carved intricately
    into the temple entrance. Gone is the excitement and
    euphoria of the mithril discovery. Several Miners cast
    nervous glances through the doorway. This design... these
    walls... they feel different, alien to them. Something in
    air just doesn't sit right.
    BRONIN
    These symbols and patterns do not belong
    to any of the Longbeards. If there was
    a clan before us, we would know it.
    Durin takes a few steps ahead of the group, has a gander at
    the new tunnel... then his eyes wander down, and down, and
    his face becomes ASTONISHED.
    Durin enters the Temple, Bronin following behind.
    INT. TEMPLE - DECLINED PASSAGE
    The camera makes a hundred and eighty degree turn as we
    suddenly SEE where they are heading towards...
    AN ENORMOUS ABYSS
    with no end, plunging God knows how deep into the murky
    depths below.
    Durin at the ledge, stares out. He looks back at Bronin who
    waits by the incline.
    DURIN
    Do you see that, Bronin? Look yonder.
    It appears to be light but not daylight.
    It is red.
    Bronin joins his side.
    HIS POV: far off into the distance, a LONG WALL OF FLAME,
    left to right, straight center across the blackness like a
    horizon.
    Durin releases the canary. It flutters to the ground, hops
    around a few seconds, and then jumps and flies off towards
    the light. A LONG OMINOUS BEAT. Durin turns to Bronin when
    suddenly --
    THE DARKNESS spits something back at their feet. The two
    recoil. They look down in horror. The little bird, it's a
    tiny chunk of charred meat. And then, a low RUMBLE, like a
    slow-motion earthquake. Cracks form on walls and ground,
    dirt begins to shift in the temple. DWARVES yell in the b.g.
    Durin and Bronin look back at the wall of fire where a large
    section of the DARKNESS BEGINS TO MOVE TOWARDS THEM, its
    contours incongruous with the abyss. Something is coming
    alive. Both Durin and Bronin scramble back up the tunnel.
    INT. TUNNEL - DEAD END
    Durin and Bronin burst through the fissure in panic. Behind
    them --
    A GIANT FIREBALL erupts from the Abyss, and barrels its way
    through the Temple Doorway. Everything collapses.
    INT. TUNNEL INTERSECTION
    As the Miners retreat back up the shaft, Durin hears the
    sound from the Temple. He looks over his shoulder... sees
    the flames billow from the rear. A split second before the
    blast hits...
    DURIN
    Look out!
    Durin dives into a side tunnel, head first. Bronin follows
    but ­the other miners hesitate, confused... turn around to
    face...
    WHOOMPH
    The delayed sound bang of the explosion...
    A fireball tears through like a sudden wind from Hiroshima,
    the temperature soars... miners don't know what's hit them.
    Hands scorched... faces flayed... blistering blackened skin
    the fireball sucks away the oxygen.
    Durin gulps for air... tries to stand up... stumbles...
    FROM DURIN'S POV: A hallucinatory, dream-like moment...
    The wind sucks miners bodies into a clumsy dance of death...
    bodies lurching... legs buckling... tumbling backwards...
    gasping for air... as sudden heat bends and distorts body
    movement.
    EXT. BLAST FURNACE
    The few survivors make it out of the shaft.
    The entire area violently SHAKES. EQUIPMENT fall and
    clatter. Showers of DEBRIS and ROCK fall on the Miners.
    Dwarves are thrown about. Lots of YELLING. The shaft expels
    the remainder of the FIREBALL...
    And it stops shaking. Everything goes dead quiet except the
    crackle of flickering flames. Confused eyes share terror-
    filled looks. A SOUND is HEARD coming from the lower mine
    shafts, like hurricane-force winds MOANING.
    The Dwarves are stunned, look around for the source of the
    sound, then the moan stops and is replaced by a distinct
    ROAR... OVERPOWERINGLY LOUD... and --
    A BALROG EXPLODES OUT OF THE MINE SHAFT
    


End file.
